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(No Model '4,

A C. W. CLAYBOURNE.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING GRANULAR FUEL.4

Nol 531,160. Patented Dee. 18,1894

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

COLIN IW. CLAYBXOURNE, OF `INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

APPARATUS FOR BURNING GRAN-ULAR FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,160, dated December 18, 1894.

Y Application tiled November 6, 1893. Serial No.'490,152. (No model.)V

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, COLIN W. CLAYBOURNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at In dianapolis, in the county of Marion, and in the State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for Burning Pulverized or Grantilar Fuel; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the'accompanying drawings, in which--4 Figure 1 shows a perspective view of my apparatus, with positive fuel feed device; Fig. 2, a view of a longitudinal vertical section of the same, and Fig. 3,Y a view of a longitudinal vertical section of my apparatus, as arranged' for use without the feed screw.

Letters of like name and kind refer to parts in each of the figures.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means for and process of burning coaldust, or other granulated or powdered fuel, and to this end my invention consists'in the apparatus and in the process as hereinafter specied. In the means, as heretofore used for burning coal-dust and the like, the pulverized or granular fuel has been fed into the fire-box, to be there met by an air-blast, to blow it forward and supply the oxygen for its combusylike a tion.

the fire-box or combustion-chamber, and willl produce avery hot,'clear, smokeless llame, capable of being directed or guided, by any suitable draft-devices, so that it will apply its heat uniformly and evenly over any surfaces to beheated, without any blast or blow-,pipe action, which, as is known, is destructive to the sheets or tubes of boilers, on account of the iame necessarily striking more directly and forcibly on one part, than on another of the surface to rbe heated.

- In the drawings, A'designates a body, which, in general outline, is cylindrical, but can be' of any other shape, as desired, Through such body passes the large central passage a, for vthe admission of the coal-dust, or other pulverized or granulated fuel, and the passage a', for the steam, air, or other gaseous fluid, below the fuel passage, and having its discharge mouth much smaller, than that of the latter. On the body, below the lower passage, is the deector a2, extending forward and upward at an angle to the line of a jet issuing from the passage d. As shown in the drawings, this deiector is preferably, though not necessarily, curved or concave, instead of being straight. Connected with the rear or outer end of passage a, is the feed-tube a3, communicating'at its outer end with the hopper B, or other source ot supply of coal-dust, saw-dust, `or other granular or pulverized, fuel, to be burned. As shown inthe drawings, the discharge end of passage a, is continued out beyond the frontrface of body A within a projecting tubular boss, so that its mouth is a kshort distance forward of the end of the passage of, and at its front end such boss is cut away on a plane extending downward and rearward.

In the form of apparatus shown in Figs. 1

and 2, there is within tube as, the revolvingconveyer screw at, which, receiving the fuel from hopper B, carries the same forward toward the -mouth of passagea, at a rate depending upon the speed of rotation of the screw. Atits rear end, the screw-shaft a5, passes out through a suitable bearing'in the plug a, screwed into the outer end of the tube, and is provided beyond suchplug with a pulley 'or wheel a7, which is to be connected with and driven from any desired motor or source of power by means of a belt or other suitable connecting gearing. is only shown and described as one form of a number of conveying devices which might be used for the same purpose, andI do not limit myself to the use of itin my apparatus. The coal-dust, saw-dust, or other -pulverized. -or granular fuel might be fed by gravity, or in any other` way instead, without departure from my invention; Where the fuel feed passage is continued out beyond the mouth of passage 0.', as shown in the drawings, I have found that the pulverized or granular fuel' will, when dry, be drawn freely and rapidly l This screw form of feed v IOO enough from the hopper, along the tube a3, without the use of the conveyer screw, by the action of steam admitted into the bulb to be described, through passage a', as hereinafter set forth. When the fuel is to be thus drawn in, without the use of a positive feed device, I employ the construction of appara tus shown in Fig. 3, having the feed tube a3 with its outer or rear end extending beyond the point where the fuel enters from the hopper B, or other source of supply of fuel, left open. The passage of the fuel into said tube is to be so regulated that the latter will be only partially filled, as indicated in the drawlngs.

The steam issuing from passage a', and passing by the projecting tubular boss forming the forward continuation of the feed conduit orpassage, will inducea current of air through tube a3, which will draw the pulverized or granular fuel rapidly along the latter, and carry it from the same out of the mouth of the fuel passage in head A, so that the fuel feeding will be continuous as long as the tube a3 is kept supplied from the hopper, or other source of supply. If desired, the outer or rear end of the fuel tube a3 can be supplied with an air receiving and directing funnel, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The same feeding of the granular or pulverized fuel, without the intervention of a feed screw, or other positive feed device, could be secured if the outer end of tube a3, beyond the hopper B, were closed and the fuel were fed into the hopper so as not to entirely close up the passage from it into said tube. The in duced current, caused by the action of the steam, and acting to convey the fuel, could then pass down through the hopper itself, drawing the fuel therefrom. Passage a is, through valved pipe as, to be connected with any suitable source of supply of steam, air, or other gaseous iiuid under pressure. Such source of supply, which can be of any desired form, is indicatedin a conventional Way only, at C.

The bulb D, hereinbefore referred to, which is attached to body A, preferably, but not necessarily, by being screwed thereon, as shown, has an interior chamber which expands abruptly forward from around the space into which passages a and a discharge, and then contracts again to the discharge neck d, having an orifice or mouth preferably, several times the size of passage a. The general shape of the bulb is that of an oblate spheroid, or a sphere somewhat flattened on its front and rear sides, with a conical or taper portion on its outer side running to the neck d.

In practice I have found very good results to be secured with the mouth of fuel passage a one or two inches in diameter, and the largest diameter of the interior of the bulb, seven inches. The mouth of neck d was then about an inch wide. I do not, however, intend to limit myself to such relative proportions as the sizes of passage a, bulb D, and mouth of neck d, can be departed from, or varied at will, without departure from my invention.

By practice, it has been found that within certain limits, the horse power producing ca pacity of my burner, as used on boilers, can be increased, by increasing the size of the steam opening and discharge mouth of the bulb.

If desired, in order to secure more rapid and easy feed of the fuel, the passage a could be made larger, but if it is, it would be best to enlarge the opening through neck d, correspondingly.

As indicated hereinbefore, I contemplate forcing in through passage a', either steam or compressed air, or other gaseous fiuid under pressure,sufficient to separate the particles of fuel fed in through passage a, and whirl them about within the bulb, so that they will be not only completely separated, but well and intimately mixed with the steam or gaseous Iiuid.

Practice has shown steam to be not only economical, but to secure the best results in the proper separation of the fuel particles, and the production of a large volume of clear iiame of the strongest heating power.

iVhether steam, air, or other gaseous fluid is used,the pressure on the same need not be so great as to force the mingled particles of fuel and fluid from the neck d, so as to produce a blow-pipe form of flame, but can be and is best kept low, so that the fiame while an exceedingly hot and smokeless one, of great volume, can be drawn or directed by suitable draft devices to apply its heat uniformly over the surface or surfaces to be heated.

With the apparatus constructed as shown and described, and the coal dust or other pulverized fuel being fed in through passage a, and steam forced in through the smaller passage a', the steam will, as it issues from the latter passage and expands suddenly within the large chamber in the bulb, strike the fuel descending toward the deiiector n.2 and, being guided upward and forward by the curved inclined face of the latter, will separate the fuel particles from each other, and` whirling them around with it within the bulb chamber, will be mixed thoroughly and uniformly with them before passing on out through neck CZ. The result is, that a mixture is produced which immediately upon issuing from neck d, will take fire instantly and completely with each particle of the pulverized fuel entirely ignited.

When the pulverized or granular fuel is dry, and the passage a is carried forward of the mouth of steam passage a', as shown in the drawings, the steam passing forward and upward past the mouth of the former passage, will produce a draft which will as indicated herein before draw said fuel from the hopper through the feed tube a and passage a,`with sucient rapidity, without any screw or other positive feed device placed in such tube.

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eiuo n s The Hame produced by my burner upon ignition of the mixture issuing from the mouth of the bulb, is clear and perfectly smokeless, and, because of the oxygen and hydrogen of the steam being consumed in it, is an exceedingly hot one.

With lowpressure on the steam, the Iiame produced is a soft one, easily directed yor guided by ordinary draft devices, so that its heat can be applied uniformly overV the surfaces to be heated, a most desirable feature where boilers, brick kilns, or lime kilns are to be heated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In an apparatus for burning coal-dust,'or other granular or pulverized fuel, in combination with a conduit and a source of supply of the granular or pulverized fuel feeding into suchconduit, an enlarged mixing chamber into which the conduit discharges, having a suitable discharge mouth, aV source of supply of steam, and a conduit for the same discharging into the mixing chamber past the mouth of the fuel passage, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In an apparatus for burning coal-dust, or other granular or pulverized fuel, in combination with the enlarged mixing chamber having a suitable discharge mouth, a steam'get entering such chamber, and the feed conduit connected with a source of supply of the fuel, and having its forward end projecting into the chamber, to a point forward of the discharge mouth of the steam passage, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

3. In an apparatus for burning coal-dust, or other pulverized or granular fuel, in combination with a conduit, a source of supply of the granularor pulverized fuel, and means for feeding the same through the conduit, an enlarged mixing chamber into which the fuel is discharged, having a suitable discharge mouth, a source of supply of fluid under pressure, and a conduit forthe same entering the e chamber so that the fluid will come in contact with the fuel entering the chamber and mingle with the same, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4f. In an apparatus for burning coal-dust, or other pulverized or granular fuel, in combination with a conduit, and means for supplyingl and feeding the pulverized or granular fuel through the same, a second conduit connected with a source of supply of fluid under pressure, an enlarged mixing chamber around the place where the two conduits discharge, hav` ing a suitable discharge mouth, and the deiiector extending at an angle forward and inward across the path of `the jet entering through the fluid conduit and toward a line through the fuel conduit, substantially as and p contracted down to a smaller discharge mouth,

and a deflector to direct the fluid entering the chamber forward and inward at an angle to a line through the fuel conduit, substantially as and for the purpose set fort 6. In an apparatus for burning coal-dust or other pulverized or granular fuel, in combination with a source of supply of such fuel, and means for feeding the latter from the same, a conduit through which the fuel is fed, a second conduit connected with a source of supply of steam, and a bulb havingan enlarged chamber into which the fuel and steam conduits discharge, and within which the steam and fuel aire mingled together, and a reduced ,discharge opening, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7 In an apparatus for burning coal dust, or other granular fuel, in combination with the enlarged mixing chamber having a suitable discharge mouth, a passage for steam into said chamber, the fuel conduit extended into the `same with its discharge end inclining rearward and downward, and a deflector adjacent to the mouth of the steam passage to guide the steam past the inclined end of the fuel conduit, substantially as and for the purpose shown. v

8. The improved process of burning coaldust or other pulverized or granular fuel, which consists in feeding such fuel into an enlarged chamber with a suitable discharge opening, and bringing into contact with it as it enters such a chamber, an expansible fluid under pressure, to separate the particles of fuel and whirl them around with the uid within `the chamber before they reach and pass from the discharge opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of October, 1893. n

COLIN W. CLAYBOURNE.

Witnesses:

J. S. STEPHENS, W. H. PALMER.

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